


Dead on the Surface

by Tarlan



Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, First Time, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-10
Updated: 2010-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-13 14:51:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/138565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Mick and Josef there was only one constant in their lives--each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dead on the Surface

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SmallFandomFest FEST08

Washington was cold at this time of year, with the wind driving the rain across the old cemetery that had survived the encroachment of a modern world. In the distance Mick could see the spires of new residential skyscrapers, constructed of steel and glass, but surrounding this place were Brownstone buildings built before even he was born. In the thirty years since he moved to Washington, he had seen many of the old Victorian buildings crumble to dust before people noticed the loss of their heritage and began to save them.

Vampire money had saved this particular suburb, mainly Josef's, the same way Josef had saved a particular block in New York where, even after all these decades, Sarah Whitley was still sleeping her way through eternity in a coma. Attuned to Josef, he glanced across and gave a world weary smile as Josef's hand squeezed his arm.

"I hate this fucking weather," he stated softly in a low tone that only another vampire could register. He hated swearing too but the wind and the rain only made this day even more miserable. Technically he was only dead on the surface but, today, he felt equally dead inside. Numbed with grief.

"I hear San Francisco is rebuilding after the last great earthquake."

The West Coast sounded good right now even though a chunk of it had been lost when the San Andreas fault cracked wide open and dropped most of L.A. into the ocean. He had loved L.A. He had never wanted to leave there but moving on was the price of eternal youth, especially when you kept the same human companion over the decades. Beth had been right about one thing. A time had come when she saw lines on her face and gray hairs replacing the beautiful blond strands while he remained exactly as he was on the day they first met when she was a child. Yet she refused to be turned even then. His fear of losing her had caused arguments between them, but he had never forgotten what it had felt like to wake up on the day after his marriage to Coraline, and discover he had been forced into this vampiric existence. Coraline had simply taken what she wanted for him, his human life, giving him no choice, and he could never do the same to another, and certainly not to the woman he loved. Had loved. Yet, as he stood watching them lower Beth's coffin into the cold damp earth, he almost wished he had gone against her wishes and turned her.

He had not seen Coraline since the day her brother came for her, taking her back to an old chateau in France that had been owned by their lineage since before she and her brothers were turned centuries earlier. He often wondered if she was even still alive, or if she had been executed for putting her line at risk by stealing the compound that could turn a vampire into a human temporarily. She was as lost to him as Beth but he felt no urge to discover her fate, except out of morbid curiosity.

The priest came up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss."

He nodded. There wasn't much to say and he had already cried so many tears over Beth since the accident that ripped her from him, that he felt drained of all emotion.

"Come on," Josef said softly, and drew him away from the lonely grave with its weeping angel watching over it.

By necessity, the majority of those who had come to pay their respects with him were either vampires or their freshies; people who knew what they were. Making human friends was always too dangerous because humans grew old and became concerned when others did not age at the same rate. It was a small consolation, but at least Mick could stop using the silver-gray dye in his hair now to disguise his never-changing youth.

Simone stopped them partway to the limousine and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Mick."

Unlike Beth, she had greedily demanded to become one of them, and when she couldn't wear down Josef, she had turned to another to sire her. In all his four centuries of life, Josef had tried to turn only one fully human person to a vampire, and that had been a disaster. Yet Josef still hoped that one day modern medicine would find a way to bring Sarah out of her coma and he would look after her until that day. Mick didn't count according to Josef. He refused to acknowledge that he was Mick's sire even though the blood bond between them was so strong; far stronger than Mick's bond to Coraline had ever been. Perhaps it was because he had been half vampire when Josef turned him back fully, mingling his vampire and human blood with Josef's.

They reached the luxurious house that Mick had shared with Beth. His bags were already packed, waiting for him in the hallway but, until earlier he'd had no clear destination in mind. All he wanted was to get away; to leave the memories behind and start afresh away from the cold and rain. For a moment he had toyed with the idea of disappearing into the night, leaving everything behind and taking a few years or a decade to lick his wounds before seeking out old friends. But the thought of losing Josef so soon after Beth was terrifying, and San Francisco sounded pretty good to him right now, especially if Josef was prepared to leave Washington behind too and go with him.

He saw Josef eyeing his bags in barely veiled concern.

"So when do we leave?" Mick asked, and he saw the fear in Josef's eyes recede, replaced by the familiar smirk.

"I've been packed for two days." Since Beth's death, Mick thought. "And I've already booked our flight for tonight."

Mick snorted soft. "So sure of yourself."

"No. I'm sure of you."

Mick nodded because, although Josef had always managed to see through him, just as he had managed to slip through Josef's four centuries' worth of defenses, it was clear from Josef's eyes a moment earlier that he had feared Mick would leave without him. They had been firm friends since the moment Coraline introduced them, feeling drawn to each other from that first meeting all those decades ago. Before losing Beth, the only time Mick had keenly grieved the loss of another was when he thought Josef was dead, destroyed in a firebomb of his offices on the orders of Sarah Whitley's father. Mick had felt numb then, and he felt numb now after losing Beth, though this time he wouldn't find Beth sitting on the couch waiting for him the way he had found Josef in his apartment that day. This time the grief would linger.

"Plane leaves in two hours."

It seemed the most natural thing in the world to grab Josef tight and hold him close, inhaling the vampire's musty scent. "Thank you," he whispered, feeling Josef's arms tighten around him for a moment before they both stepped back.

"Time to put your game face on," Josef stated with a sad smile.

The limousine was waiting outside and Mick huffed out a laugh when the chauffeur opened the trunk and revealed Josef's cases lined up inside. Mick climbed into the limo beside Josef, and he didn't look back as the limo pulled away because all that was left there was memories now Beth was gone. They rode in silence until the airport came into view.

"What if I'd said no?"

"You wouldn't have." Josef sounded so certain and yet they both knew it could have turned out differently.

"But what if I had?"

"But you wouldn't have...and you didn't."

"I could still change my mind. Go to Hawaii instead."

"Yes. You could. But you won't."

"Still pretty sure of yourself."

"I'm pretty sure of you."

"Well, there is the family connection...Dad."

"I told you not to call me that. I'm not your sire. Coraline was your sire. I just...re-turned you."

"As you keep saying...over and over. Bit of a sore point?"

"No. I just don't want you to get any familial thoughts about me."

"Familial thoughts."

"By that I mean thoughts of me as some family figurehead or father figure."

"Like the Godfather."

"Yes...and no."

"Is that yes to the family part, no to the figurehead, or..."

"Yes...and no." Josef turned to him with a tight smile. "Let's drop this."

"Sure." Mick returned a small smile, feeling the first spark of pleasure since losing Beth. He knew he had a long way to go before the grief of loss would turn to the sad pleasure of remembrance but at least he had not lost everything. He still had Josef's unwavering support and friendship.

*****

 **Four Years Later:**

Josef wrapped his arms around himself and stared at the gutted ruins of 301 Waverly Place. The Fire had spread quickly and the fire services had recovered three bodies, but few would know there had been a fourth person. The fire would have burned Sarah to ashes and though he should have felt only grief for her loss, Josef hated that he also felt relief. For ninety years he had looked after her comatose form, barely remembering the year they had lived and loved before his attempt to bring her over had failed. Every year he had returned here to see her, usually on the anniversary of her loss, spending a week at her bedside while she slept like the fabled Sleeping Beauty. But no lover's kiss had ever awoken her, and now it never would.

"I guess it's time for Charles Fitzgerald to die too."

He glanced sideways and caught the sorrow in Mick's eyes, knowing it was for him rather than for Sarah, for she had been sleeping for as long as he and Mick had known each other. Mick had never met the vibrant young woman who had captured Josef's heart back in 1955. He knew only of the beautiful sleeper.

"You know I...took up your suggestion and brought John Whitley to Sarah just before he died." Josef sighed. "He thought I had killed her. He thought I had mesmerized her with my _vampire ways_ , and then drained her when I grew tired of her, casting her dead body aside like a used and broken doll." Josef took in a deep shaky breath. "He never expected to see her...alive. Never expected a vampire to know...love."

"I'm glad."

"Glad?"

"You gave him peace."

"I promised him I'd always take care of her."

"And you did."

Josef felt Mick's arm slide around his shoulders and he gave in to the need for comfort, dropping his head on Mick's shoulder and feeling the other vampire's strength supporting him as he wept quietly for a love that never had a chance. Hours later, Mick led him away, taking him back to the plush hotel suite and filling the bath with ice; Josef slept, knowing Mick would be watching over him.

****

 **Six Years Later:**

Life had been a lot simpler in earlier centuries, before the digital age and computers that referenced a person's life from before they were born to the moment they died. Everything was chipped, and though there were plenty of vampires who knew how to break the systems and forge lives for those of their own kind, there were some vampires who chose to live outside of the human and vampire law. These ones risked everyone because they fed indiscriminately, scavenging around the edges of society almost like animals.

Mick found his former life as a private detective disappearing as technology increased, turning instead into a rogue vampire hunter. He became almost an adjunct of the Cleaners, hunting down those who would reveal their presence to an ever-more vigilant humanity in order to protect the rest. Yet he had always known it was just a matter of time before the authorities caught their first vampire.

The Europeans feared another great purge, such as the French Revolution that was brought about to destroy the ever-increasing number of vampires in the nobility, and the rest of the vampires began to fear it too. It didn't matter that only a small minority of vampires killed for blood, that most were happy enough with a sip from a freshie or banked blood. All it would take was for one killer to be revealed for everyone to pay the price.

That day came when a newborn lost control and was captured before she could be destroyed. Visions of her snarling through the TV screens filled every home, with the high-definition cameras focusing on her inhuman eyes and sharp incisors. After that it seemed as if every human in the world became a vampire hunter overnight, seeing vampires everywhere.

Old myths were dragged out and most discarded when they realized that sunlight didn't necessarily kill, and a stake through the heart only paralyzed. Bodies were discovered decapitated, the heads on pikes as a warning to others but, often, all that was found was a ring of fire embers, the body having burned to ashes once the humans realized that fire was the vampire's greatest fear. Of course, innocent humans died alongside equally innocent vampires, but the paranoia stirred up by the media made it difficult for humans to see sense.

Only yesterday they had dragged Logan Griffith from his basement and incinerated him on the street outside. He had never killed a single person in all his years as a vampire but that had made no difference to the baying mob. They saw only a blood-drinking monster rather than an intelligent person who lived for computer games and movies.

Mick lived in fear, but not for himself. He worried over losing Josef, afraid that now humans had started to seek them out, the chances of remaining hidden from public view became all the more difficult for those who had once stepped into the limelight. Computers with face recognition software made it easy to check through millions of images dating back decades, looking for doppelgangers who might be a single long-lived individual: a vampire. It was only a matter of time before they stumbled upon the likeness between Charles Fitzgerald, Josef Kostan and Michael Johnson--the name Josef had assumed when they moved to San Francisco. His own past notoriety might come back to haunt him too as he recalled those few days when the Paparazzi had thought him the new boyfriend of a celebrity whose life was cut short tragically.

"Josef?"

"Michael," Josef automatically corrected, and Mick swore under his breath because it was slips like that which could doom both of them.

"We need to get out of San Francisco."

"And go where?" Josef reached over, placing his hands on Mick's shoulders. "There isn't any place safe anymore."

Mick grabbed him in return. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for someone to drag me out into the street and burn or decapitate me. And I'm not letting that happen to you either."

Josef released his grip and wrapped his arms around Mick instead, crushing Mick against him with a desperation and fear that was mirrored by Mick. He held Josef as tightly, pressing his cheek against Josef's. He couldn't be certain what happened next. He had intended to draw back, to try to convince Josef that they had to flee but Josef turned his head at the same time and their lips brushed. He could have drawn back then but, instead, he increased the contact, mashing Josef's lips against his own, feeling sharp incisors drop and nick the cool lips. The scent of vampire blood was as heady as human blood, releasing a long repressed desire as they kissed harder, drawing more blood and savoring each droplet as wounds were inflicted and healed instantly.

Mick was hard and wanting by the time he managed to pull back. So many years--decades--wasted when they could have had this. They fought their way to Josef's human bed, neither willing to give way to the other, both needing to dominate as they came together as equals. The centuries separating them meant nothing compared to the few layers of clothing that hampered them. Mick tore at Josef's clothes, wanting rid of that final barrier to reach the cool flesh beneath. They came together finally, flesh to flesh, choking on cries of passion and despair as they came hard.

Afterwards, Mick lay in Josef's arms, cradled against the other vampire in the silence of the night.

Josef sighed raggedly. "I've wanted this for years."

Mick tightened his hold at Josef's soft confession. "I guess I already knew. Just took me a while to get over Beth."

"I know. I never pushed because I thought we'd have more time. I thought we'd have forever."

Mick leaned up on one elbow and looked down at Josef. "It can still be forever. Before he died, Logan told me about a group of vampires that had banded together, hoping to put our case before the humans."

"Any vampire who exposes him or herself to the humans is asking for a death sentence."

"Possibly, or it's a chance to live openly without fear. To coexist with humans."

"Won't work. They fear and envy us in equal measure." Josef stared up at him, then reached out to stroke his cheek. "Not every captured vampire has been slaughtered. Some have disappeared into laboratories to be studied and experimented upon by humans looking for the secret of immortality." His mouth twisted with a wry grin. "Without the blood-sucking tendencies, of course."

Mick had feared as much. He closed his eyes and laid back down, resting his head on Josef's shoulder. "I don't see we have much choice. We either wait and let them hunt us down like animals...or we stand up and try to change the world."

Mick felt Josef's lips brush his temple. "Given those two options...perhaps it's time to change the world."

"They could use a spokesperson. A vampire with a commanding presence who has a head for business and diplomacy. Not everyone is baying for our heads."

Josef knew Mick was referring to him. "On one condition. You stay with me."

Mick grinned. "You think I'm going to give this up now I've got it?"

Mick rolled on top of Josef and kissed him softly, letting the pleasure build between them this time as they rocked slowly to an exquisite climax.

****

 **Two Years Later:**

Josef stared across the table at the representative of human affairs. He smiled politely.

"Obviously, some of our Vampire rules will have to be amended to take into consideration this new arrangement between our kinds."

"And our kind are not going to be bled like pigs to feed your kind." Josef could understand the lingering antagonism between them for the humans saw themselves very much as the victims here. But then, technically they were lower on the food chain.

"No one is asking for that. The new synthetic blood created by **my** people's scientists might not be as...palatable but it can sustain us."

"And your people are going to accept that." He looked dubious but Josef could see Senator Garnett was trying to find a way for both of their kind to live together.

"They don't have a lot of choice. Though, if any humans do offer some of their blood then that would be a contract between them and the vampire concerned."

"As long as it's not coerced."

"Of course."

Josef smiled, knowing his boyish smile was a useful tool. He knew he had appeared to give the humans one concession after another, making them feel that they had gained the upper hand in the negotiations. In truth, he had actually bargained for a continuation of the same rules that had existed between vampires and freshies since the creation of the first vampire. Still, that had always been the point of negotiation--letting each party walk away from the table believing they had a good deal.

Senator Garnett sat back and stared hard at Josef.

"Any vampire who kills a human, accident or not, must face justice according to the criminal laws of this land. No more covering up of evidence."

"Agreed. And in return, any human who kills a vampire without just cause should face the same laws."

"Agreed."

All of the rules and laws had been hashed out over the past two years but it felt good to solidify the laws between them. Josef watched as Senator Garnett signed the treaty on behalf of the human race, then accepted the pen and signed the name that he had been given at his human birth over 450 years ago, a name he returned to every few generations: Josef Kostan.

He ducked his head in embarrassment as vampires and humans began to applaud; his eyes seeking out Mick's in the crowd. Only a fool would believe all their troubles were over. Josef knew that there were vampires out there that would not settle for synthetic blood, and that there were those who would still seek the thrill of the hunt and the kill, but they would face the new human/vampire laws. He knew there were plenty of humans who would not accept this truce between their kinds and they would face the same consequences, and equally, there would be many humans who would desperately seek to become a vampire, envious of those who would never grown old.

The truce was tenuous at best but it was a beginning. For the first time since his rebirth as a vampire, Josef could stand tall and proud, no longer needing to hide his true name or his nature. His face was known in possibly every household across the world. They knew who he was, how old he was and what he was. They knew his companion too for Mick had refused to hide, staying with him just as he had promised on that first night together as lovers.

They had begun as friends almost a century ago, and now they were far more than that. During that time both of them had experienced commitment issues but they had both overcome them through their love for Sarah and for Beth. Forever seemed a long time to hold a promise to stay together but as he looked deep into Mick's eyes, Josef had a feeling that he and Mick might just be the ones to keep it.

END


End file.
